Being an account of one yarnthirsty wench and her never ending quest for the land of milk, honey and natural fibers!

Saturday, December 30, 2006

I am getting a SPINNING WHEEL for my birthday! Which was today! Oh. My. God! My mom (owner of the Wheel of Shame) has said that she would like to buy me one of my own. And I have offered to send her home with various samples of rovings so as to put the Wheel of Shame back into use. I may get her using it again regularly, who knows. Wouldn't that be great? Then it would be the Wheel of Fun and very happy.

I have no idea which kind I want. SO all y'all spinners out there, what're your favorites? What do you like and dislike about the various models? How'd you go about picking one? What were your criteria? I have to educate myself here. I plan to spend much time over at A Mano playing on the Louet Traveler they've got as a floor model. not sure that's the one I want, but it's a cute little wheel. I must confess that my attempts today were rather pathetic and hilarity did, in fact, ensue, but I will get it eventually.

There was much stash enhancement, a skein of Lisa Souza laceweight in Jonquil, some Socks that Rock, Lorna's Laces shepherd sock, a set of rosewood #2 dpns, a bunch of different rovings, a set of knitters hand repair soaps and the aforementioned SPINNING WHEEL. I had to do a little bit of rearrangement due to stash containment issues, but that's been sorted and yarn diet has been averted.

Tiki is glad the holidays are almost OVER because around here Chez Yarnpirate, a holiday just isn't a holiday unless we put stuff on the dog.

8 comments:

Well, you can go to Stick and Stone and try some out, I think. You could certainly come over to my house and try my Lendrum folding wheel (which I love unequivocally!).

My criteria were was it storable (folding), versatile (this was the only chance I would ever have!), price and did I like it. I got to try out a Majacraft Suzie (loved it, too expensive), Ashford Joy (not too versatile, had a vibration I didn't like) and the Lendrum (perfect) for a couple of hours each, due to the kindness of the spinners at the West Covina Adult School. So try to try some out.

I agree with the first poster that I would attempt to try out some wheels before buying. That said.. I think that my favorite 3 wheels right now are the Louet S-10 (which I own) a Lendrum dt, and the Ashford Joy. I think they are the easiest for beginners and for people who want to just sit down and spin vs. play with tightening knobs and springs (ashford trad.. traveler.. etc)I had an Ashford Trad for a short period of time but was not at all happy with how much I had to go through just to change the bobbin. My next wheel is either going to be the Louet Traveler or the Ashford Joy.Happy New Year & Happy Birthday!

OMG! Woo hoo for you! I too would say try lots of wheels: what works for me may not for you. I think it may be kind of like trying on wedding dresses: when you find yours, you will know because you will be transformed into a goddess. A spinning goddess, in this case.

(Since you did ask, I like my Ashford Trad, there's a Schacht castle wheel that's really nice, and I severely covet a Reeves or a Schacht Reeves.)

Yay! Happy birthday! I don't have much advice to give, except that if you can go to a store and try them out, it's very helpful. When I went to Mind's Eye for my drop spindle lesson (with the blue-faced leicester you gave me), we ended the lesson trying it on a wheel. I couldn't get the hang of it on the first wheel she put me on, but once we switched to double-treadle, it was a lot easier. Apparently there's a lot of personal fit involved.